Container band and fastener



July 27, 1937. J. E. ERICKSON CONTAINER BAND AND FASTENER Filed Aug. 5, 1955 Patented July 27, 1937 commas. mun AND mums John E. Erickson, St. Paul, Minn, assignor to Metz Container Company, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application August 5, 193mm Ni. 34,109

11 Claims.

Thisinvention relates to an improvement in containers and fastening means for securing the cover upon the container. A feature resides in providing a laminated or fibre container witha' reinforcing ring member having a nature adapted to fit and engage against the side wall of the container so as to hold the ringin place after it is forced into the desired position near the top oropen end of the container.

This reinforcing ring means is formed with a cross-sectional shape so that it provides a spring means which causes the end of the ring, particularly the lower end, to engage into the wall of the fibre container so as to hold the reinforcin forced into the desired position. reinforcing ring is particularly adapted to tapered fibre containers, or any other container where it is desired to provide a reinforcing ring near the 4 open end of the container for reinforcing'the container transversely through the same, and also reinforcing the upper open end of the container, and providing an annular shoulder which is adapted to be positioned in close proximity to the lower edge of the cover which depends down the side of the container.

Further, the invention includes a clip or fastener which is of a resilient nature and which is formed with a hook end on one end of the same to engage into the annular-reinforcing ring, while i the other end of the fastener is oifset having an angularshape, together with anchoring means, so that when the same is forced over the upper marginal edge of the cover with the hook end I engaging the reinforcing ring, the clip will snap into place and lock the cover onto the container so as to close the container. The clip does not lock the cover so that the clip cannot be removed, but has a spring nature so that it clampsboth the reinforcing ring and the top marginal edge of the cover in a manner so that it isneces-' sary to pry the top edge of the clip upward-before the clip can lie-released. In this manner the clip locks the cover to the container in a simple and eflicient manner, however, should it be desired to inspect the contents of the container, by forcing a tool under the upper edge of the clip it may be raised suficiently to release it from the cover.

5o A further feature'resides in theformof the reinforcing ring which provides an annular head {which projects from the body of the container directly beneath the lower edge of the cover and in close proximity to'the same so as to ward oflf 55 any tendency of an article engaging under the ring in place on the container after it has been edge of the cover to lift the same from the containerg The other features and details of the contalner and fastener will be more fully defined hereinafter. 5

In the drawing forming part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective viewof my container, showing my fastener holding the cover in place.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional detail showing lo a form of the container, cover and the clip for holding the cover, together with the reinforcing ring around the upper end of the container.

Figure 3 is a similar enlarged section to Figure 2, showing the cover-attaching clip engaging the 15 reinforcing ring at a different 'point from that shown in Figure 2 I Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of the resilient clip used for attaching the cover to the container. 20

- Figure 5 is a perspective view of a wire catch which is similar to the catch of Figure 4, excepting that it is in the form of a round wire instead of a flat catch member.

The container A is made of fibre or any other 25 suitable material. When made of fibre it is composed of a series of layers of paper adhered together in a manner so as to cause the same to form virtually an integral side wall. The bottom portion of the same may be placed in the con- 30 tainer in any suitable manner. The container A as illustrated, isv of a tapered construction, wherein the side wall It tapers to flare outwardly from the bottom toward the top. The bottom end of the container is provided with a lower rim por- 35 tion II and by means of suitable staples i2 the inside bottom portion, not illustrated in the drawing,is secured to this lower rim so that the inner bottom which isnot shown, will be spaced up from the lower bottom edge [3 of the con- .40 tainerA. g a

The container A is adapted to be closed by the cover B which is made of flbre or of the same material as the bodyof the container. The cover is formed with a depending flange ll which pro- 45 jects practically at right-angles tothe body portion ii of the cover. The flange l4 is bound with a metal sheathing l6 which is formed with a marginal annular flange portion' H which closely engages and lies in aplane with the body 'tionai rigidity is supplied to the depending flange H by the sheathing cover l6.

A feature resides. in providing a simple and substantial reinforcing ring which is adapted to be positioned closely adjacent the lower edge l8 of the cover B and this I have accomplished by forming a ring-or band of sheet material C having a certain cross-sectional shape which causes this band to grip the side wall IU of the container A so as to hold the band C securely to the side wall. The band C may be formed to engage a tapered side wall III or a perpendicular side wall on a cylindrical container. The band C is formed with a cross-sectional shape so as to provide a gripping edge 20 along the bottom of the same which engages into the side wall by the resilient or spring-like nature of the band between the arched portions 2| and 22. The upper edge 23 also engages into the side wall I0, however, the upper edge will have a slightly lesser gripping force into the side wall than the lower edge 26, owing to the larger arched portion 22 which controls the gripping of the edge The gripping force of the edge 20 is controlled by the smaller arched portion 2 I, making the lower edge 20 more rigid than the upper edge 23. The arched portions 2| and 22 blend into each other through the connecting integral channel portion 24.

The reinforcing band C is formed of a thin metal so that when the arches 2| and 22 are formed therein the band will be stiffened thereby, as well as providing a series of spring arches such as 2| and 22, or obviously any number of arches may be formed therein to give the desired tensionto the annular inner gripping edges 20 and 23. No portion of the reinforcing band C engages the side wall III of the container excepting the edges 20 and 23. Thus I provide a reinforcing band with spring arches' between the ends so that the ends will grip into the container wall and hold the band C firmly in place against slipping after it has once been anchored ,into the proper position on the side wall ID.

A further feature of the invention resides in the simple, quickly operated clip catch D which may be made of the flat resilient metal, as i1- lustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4, or which may be made in the round wire form D, as illustrated in Figure 5. The band C may be formed with slots 25 at intervals-in the channel 24 as illustrated in Figure 2, which are adapted to receive the hook end 26 of the clip D, as illustrated. The other end of the clip catch D is formed rightangular at 21 so as to flt over the marginal flange l1 and prong portions 28 are provided projecting inwardly from the right-angular bracket portion 21 of the clip D whichengage into the body portion |5 gfthe cover B to lock the clip D in place. 7 i

In this form of the clip D the end 26 is hooked into the slot 25 and then by pressing on the upper shank of the clip adjacent the right-angularbracket portion 21, the prongs 26 are forced over the metal marginal flange I! by reasonof the spring nature of the clip and as soon as the prongs have passed over this metal flange I'I they will bite into the body of the cover B locking the clip D in position to hold the cover B se curely attached to the container A. The inner edge 29 of the flange forms a shoulder for bracket portion 21 to raise the prongs 28 out of engaging position or over the shoulder 29. The clip D may be made long enough so as to place the hook end 26 inposition to engage in a lower slot 30 formed adjacent the lower edge 20 rather than engaging in the slot 25 as illustrated in Figure 3. It may be preferable to form the band C with'slots 30 at the lower end so as to permit drainage of any moisture from beneath the band C. Therefore, I have illustrated this construction in Figure 3, however, the clips D are of the same form and character whether they are used in slots 25 or in the slots 30 excepting that the clip D in Figure 3 is longer than the one used in Figure 2.

Figure 5 illustrates the wire spring clip D which has the hook end 26' forined on the lower end thereof and a prong 28' on the upper end. The bracket portion 21' is formed in a similar manner to the clip D. Thisclip D is provided with a curved or arcuated portion 36 which is adapted to flt closely to the bead or arched portion 2|. The shank portion of the clip or catch D or D extends along the side of the flange I4, whereas the stiff or rigid bracket portion 21 or 27 extends over the right-angular shoulder of the cover and over the marginal flange l1 .thereof. r

It is, a feature to provide the reinforcing band C with arches which form the annular beads such as 2| and 22, shaped so that they project in stepped relation, that is, the lower arch 2| being smaller than the upper arch 22 up to the lower edge of the flange ll of the cover. The reason for this formation in the reinforcing band C is not only to'provide a reinforcing band around the container A but to provide a form in the reinforcing band which will ward oif anything engaging -under the lower edge l8 of the cover B. a

In using containers like A of the flared type for butter or similar commodities, they are piled together in a car or are packed collectively in shipment, and the shifting of these containers is apt to cause one container to wedge against another container and some of the containers are inclined to raise while others areapt to crowd under the edge of the cover. with my reinforcing band C, I provide an annular guard around the lower edge of the cover which prevents or wards ofl anything engaging under the edge of the cover. It will also be apparent that the clip in securing the cover such as D or D,

tends to hold the reinforcing ring C more tightwithout adhering strictly to the construction and design shown but having the principal features thereof, to those skilled in the art and within the scope of the following claims, such as would be fully within the invention herein set forth and as covered by the appending claims.

I claim:

1. a container including a body portion hav- It is apparent that variations may be made beads extending annularly around the container which provide a spring nature to the band to cause the edges thereof to grip into the container when it is forced in position on the container wall, a .cover for said container having a depending flange adapted to extend in close v proximity to said reinforcing band, and a clip having a resilient nature engaging saidreinforcing band on one end and having a spring engaging arm engaging said cover marginally to grip into the same and hold the cover locked 5 to the container by simultaneously engagingsaid reinforcing band.

2. A reinforcing band-like ring for a flbre container formed of sheet metal having a crosssectional shape formed with a series of arches gowhich provide a spring means to the body of said reinforcing band to cause the edges of the band to grip by springforce into the wall of the container and position the hand against slipping on the side wall of a container.

3. A clip for holding a cover on a container including a shank; a hook on one end, and a bracket end having depending prong means adapted to engage into the cover marginally thereof, said hook end adapted to engage a shoul- 30 der on the container when said prong means engage the cover.

4. A'clip for holding a cover to acontainer comprising a spring shank, a bracket on one end of said shank, and a hook formed on the other end of.said shank to provide a clip for securing a cover to a container which is adapted to springinto operative position. I

5. A clip for holding a cover to a container in combinationwith a reinforcing band secured 40 to the container, said clip having a resilient shank, a rigid hook engagingend formed thereon, 9. prong means formed on the other end of said shank, and recesses formed in said reinforc-.

ing band secured to the container adapted to 45 receive the hook end of said clip first and then said prong means being adapted to spring into,

the marginal edge of the cover with the prongs engaging in the body of the cover to hold the same locked to the container.

60. 6. The combination, a container having a side wall of a nonmetallic nature, a metallic reinforcing band secured to said side wall, said band having a series of arches formed therein to provide a spring engagement to the upper and lower 55 edges of said band which are adapted to bite into the wall of said container when said reinforcing band is moved. into operative position, a cover for said container, a depending flange formed on said cover, a reinforcing sheathing ooextending over the top and depending flange of said coverand around the lower edge of'the flange of said covenslot means formed in said the same in operative'position.

reinforcing band, and a resilient clip having a hook formed on one end and a prong formed 2 on the other end adapted to lock said cover to said container, with the hook and of said clip secured in the slot of said band, and the pronged end engaging over the reinforcing sheathing and biting into the cover. to lock the cover to the container.

"7. A container having a fibrous body and cover portion of a nonmetallic nature, said cover having an integral depending flange, a metallic sheathing formed over said flange and cover portion to reinforce the same, a reinforcing band having a series of annular ribs in the form of arches formed therein and adapted to bepositioned on said container in close proximity to the depending edge of said cover flange, and clip means having hook means on one end and prong means on the other end for engaging said reinforcing band and cover respectively to lock said cover to said container with said reinforcing band acting'to ward off forces from against saiddepending flange of saidcover.

8. A container including a body and a cover portion formed of nonmetallic material and having a peripheral flange depending therefrom, a metal vreinforcing sheathing formed over the corner and lower edge of the flange of said cover,

a reinforcing band-like, guard positioned on the wall of said body in close proximity to the depending flange of said cover, and a resilient clip engaging said reinforcing band and over the reinforced corner of' said cover in closed position, and removable by springing said clip out of engagement with said cover. a

9. A reinforcing band for flbrous containers and the like including a. thin sheet metal band member, a series of longitudinally extending.

ridges formed in said band, a pair of spaced biting edges on said band for engaging the container tn hold the reinforcing band in place, and one of said ridges being larger than another,

10. A reinforcing metallic band for flbrous and nonmetallic containers including a body portion formed with a series of annular ribs or arches between the side edges thereof, said arches providing side edges of said reinforcing band adapted to engage into the container to which the band'is attached under spring tension to hold 1 1. A reinforcing band for a' container having a band-like body portion, a series of arches formed in said body portion between the sides thereof, inwardly engaging edges adapted'to engage the sides of the container to which the band is adapted to be attached under spring tension by reason ;of the arches formed therein, f

forces against the lower free edge of the cover used on the container on which the-reinforcing band is positioned. v

' JOHN E. ERICKSON.

said arches-acting as a guard for warding 0i! 

